


A Spark in the Winter

by EvilRobotCat



Category: Compilation of Final Fantasy VII
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-15
Updated: 2020-12-15
Packaged: 2021-03-10 22:14:22
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,613
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28084503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EvilRobotCat/pseuds/EvilRobotCat
Summary: Shortly after Meteorfall, Barret goes to Junon to meet with Reeve.  Is he keeping tabs on Shinra's spy? Or is he worried about a friend?  Without knowing the answer himself, Barret opens the door...
Relationships: Reeve Tuesti/Barret Wallace
Comments: 4
Kudos: 7
Collections: 2020 FF7 Secret Santa





	A Spark in the Winter

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tacotits](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tacotits/gifts).



Junon was ugly in winter. Snow had been falling for several hours, but it didn't stick. Between the heat of the industrial fortress above and the warm currents of the ocean below, all the city ever got was slush. Slush that smelled of oil and fish. It smelled stronger than usual this winter, and no one was sure why. The night of the calamity, the tide went out as usual and never rolled all the way back in. Maybe it never would.

The scientists of the world hadn't bothered to investigate the phenomenon. For one thing it was happening all over the planet, and Junon was no more special than any other place. Not anymore. For another thing, the people had bigger problems to deal with these days. Nobody had answers, but Barret Wallace was sure he knew where to find a few. That's what had brought him to Junon tonight.

Barret threw open the door of a suspiciously unmarked building and walked in. He'd caught the glint of a shiny metal crown bouncing into an alley on his way. There was no sneaking up on a sneak - especially one of Shinra's best. Hell, it was Cait Sith who'd told him how to find this place a week or two ago. Back then he'd been too busy picking up the pieces in Midgar's slums to worry about Shinra. But now that's he'd had some time to think, he realized he had no idea what to do next. Maybe he'd find the answer here.

“So you really left Midgar,” he said in greeting. “I never woulda believed it. Now I know the world ended.”

"Barret, welcome." Reeve didn't look up from the charts on his desk. "There's coffee somewhere in this mess. You're welcome to it."

"Still got those pampered plate-dweller manners in a place like this, huh?" Barret said with a dry laugh. "Thanks. I could use something warm. Uh..."

Taking his first good look at the room, Barret understood that Reeve's humorous offer had not been a joke. Stacks of papers covered every surface, some towering almost to the ceiling. Where there were no steady surfaces, papers littered the floor. Some stacks had become furniture themselves, balancing battery-run computers and strange devices Barret couldn't recognize. Maybe they were Reeve's own inventions?

Barret scratched the back of his neck and tried to think of a polite way to comment on the hoard. There wasn't any.

"Did a bomb go off?"

Reeve laughed softly and turned to face his guest at last. The dark shadows under his eyes could have been the result of poor lighting or lack of sleep. Not that they'd spent time together in person before, but Barret remembered Reeve being a handsome man on his billboard at the Shinra building. Barret felt a tug of pity in his heart.

"It's not the wall-to-wall computer screens I'm accustomed to," Reeve admitted, "but I can make do. The generators must be spared for the medical crews. I'm sure you've..."

"Seen 'em, yeah. It's all over the planet. Everybody's gettin' sick with it. What is it? Some kinda Shinra shit?"

Reeve shook his head and lowered his eyes.

"I'm not sure how it came to be, but there's little doubt it's our fault. And at a time like this, anyone who worked with the science department seems to have vanished without a trace. The few who remained claim to have no knowledge of the substance leaking from the victims. As for the ones affected, there's no-"

Suddenly alarm flashed across Reeve's weary face.

"Are you here to ask for help? Is Marlene-"

"She's fine," Barret grumbled with an awkward blush. "No, I came here... I dunno... maybe lookin' for work?"

"Work?" Reeve repeated. "For me?"

Reeve cleared stacks of paper from two couches and gestured in invitation. Barret took one, and Reeve took the other. The former enemies faced each other, their roles and positions completely reversed. They'd buried their hatchets on the airship. If the planet was still in good shape, they'd be having this meeting in some cushy restaurant above the plates. They'd work out a deal to end mako production for good. With Reeve in charge, Barret believed it could really happen.

But it was too late for that now.

The planet had made the decision for all of them.

"Never thought I'd ask Shinra for a job, but the problem's not in Shinra anymore, it's everywhere. We need bigger guns to take it on. I just thought... maybe... I could help with that.”

"I," Reeve hesitated, then began again, "I've left Shinra.”

“But-” Barret gaped. “Weren't you finally the top dog? Who's running it now?”

“I don't know. No, I don't care. The people don't need Shinra Company's oppression anymore. They need to think for themselves. _Do_ for themselves."

Barret leaned back and rested an arm over the couch. He gave Reeve a hint of a smile.

"You sure that's the people you're talkin' about and not yourself?"

It was Reeve's turn to blush.

"A bit of both, I suppose. Regardless, there's very little I can offer you. If you want to reach the company..."

"Nah, forget it. I like what you said. Doin' things for ourselves. That's how I've always done it."

“It's new to me.”

The two were silent for a while, neither sure where to take the conversation. They had little common ground between them; a builder who'd worked for the company that almost destroyed the planet, a destroyer who'd dedicated his life to saving it. In the end both had lost their dreams. And yet here they sat, survivors in Jenova's wake.

Then, as if they'd been having a conversation all along, Barret asked, "Don't you get angry?”

“In general?”

“At all this. There's so many people dead they can't bury 'em all, and that sickness is killin' more every hour. People who never did anything wrong. Kids. Babies. Everybody in the whole world lost everything all at once. But all you look is tired. Doesn't it piss you off?"

"Do you want to know the truth?" Reeve returned quietly. "The only thing I feel is shame. How could I have been so blind to this? Why didn't I see it coming?"

"Your heart was in the right place," Barret said with an uncomfortable shrug.

Mere weeks ago he would have given anything to see one of Shinra's heads writhe in agony. Now that he had the chance it made his stomach knot. He hadn't forgiven any of them. But this one was different. This one had saved his little girl's life. Saved him and Tifa, and probably all of them several times over in battle.

This one was his friend.

"I should have known!" Reeve insisted. "I built-"

As quickly as he'd lost his composure he regained it. Whatever secret Reeve had almost revealed remained buried under a mountain of self control. He was formidable in his composure.

"You don't have to keep it bottled up anymore," Barret encouraged.

"It's an old habit," Reeve smiled in apology. "I wish I could live as freely as you."

"Could say the same about your calmness. I don't have any filter. My feelings boil over and I blow my top without thinkin'. What kinda role model is that for Marlene?"

"The kind that teaches her to be honest and to follow her heart."

Reeve's praise caught Barret unaware, and he couldn't help laughing. He reached over the wall of papers between them to clap Reeve on the shoulder. The physical contact brought a blush to Reeve's face, which made Barret ache inside. While Barret had spent his life surrounded by friends who shared his dreams, this man had been alone in a tower full of snakes.

Someday he wanted to show Reeve what real friendship was. The kind of bonds people formed when they knew each other through and through, and trusted each other with their lives. The kind that sometimes grew into more... Reeve _was_ an attractive man, now that he could see him up close. His frame was too light to build the muscles under his suit naturally. That took some work. And even in this hellish new world, the shape of his beard was impeccable. Barret was willing to bet Reeve even trimmed-

Well, tonight he'd start with something small.

"Have you had dinner?" Barret asked with a smile.

"Come to think of it, I don't recall having breakfast or lunch," Reeve frowned back. "What time is it, again?"

"Time to eat!" Barret rose to his feet and pulled Reeve after him. "Grab your coat, we're goin' to a bar. That's the only kinda place open these days, but they still serve food."

"That sounds like a fine idea."

Reeve left the room. While he waited, Barret stole a glance at some of the papers. A map covered with wavy lines. Mako vents, he guessed. It was similar to the kind of maps they'd used in his younger days to identify potential drilling sites. Only it was covered with hand-drawn Xes and question marks. That didn't look right. What wasn't Reeve telling him...?

No, he wasn't hiding anything. And Barret wouldn't ask. When Reeve was ready, he'd share. They had a broken world to put back together. They'd do it with trust.

"There now, I'm dressed for the weather."

"All right, let's go. I saw a bar down the street from here. Bet they don't make food as good as Tifa's, but I'll take anything right..." Barret's words trailed off as he stared in shock.

"What is it?" Reeve asked. "What's the matter?"

"Reeve. Are you gonna tell me that stupid-lookin' thing's your _coat?"_

**Author's Note:**

> Happy holidays, all! I was determined to make this a rich, quality story. I know the pain of rare pairs, especially ones with Reeve involved! 
> 
> Btw, the seemingly mysterious paper Barret found is a reference to canon. The sea levels changed after Meteor, and that was partly how Cloud was able to do so much traveling by Fenrir in ACC. Since this fic takes place just a week or two after Meteorfall, that wouldn't be common knowledge yet. I also deliberately avoided either of these two finding closure to their respective problems because at this point Barret hasn't rebuilt 7th Heaven and Reeve hasn't formed the WRO. They'll just have to meet again when they know what they want to do in this new world. (I love the Remake, but it forcibly reminded me how much I love post-OG and how I won't get that going forward. T-T)
> 
> As a final note, I think Reeve's coat is the height of fashion!


End file.
